Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (Paperback)

Juniper Hayward has always lived in Athena Liu’s shadow. They entered the same circles, chased the same dreams, yet only one of them became a literary star. Athena dazzled critics. June was ignored.

When June witnesses Athena’s sudden death, she makes a choice that will change everything. She steals Athena’s completed manuscript, a powerful novel about the overlooked role of Chinese labourers during the First World War. June edits the book, submits it as her own, and watches her life transform overnight.

The novel becomes a sensation. June is published, praised, and rebranded as Juniper Song, her image carefully reshaped to appear racially ambiguous. She tells herself the story matters more than the author. Readers agree. Bestseller lists confirm it.

Success brings attention. Attention brings scrutiny. Online voices begin to question the book’s origins. Rumours spread. Receipts surface. Athena’s presence refuses to fade, haunting June through emails, memories, and guilt she refuses to face.

As pressure mounts, June spirals into paranoia, obsession, and self-justification. She clings to the belief that she deserves this life, whatever the cost. Each decision pulls her deeper into deceit, exposing the fragile line between admiration and envy, ally and thief.

Yellowface is a sharp, unsettling exploration of ambition, race, and authorship in a publishing world driven by perception, power, and performance.